Do you know much about L-Theanine. It’s supposed to be this supplement that induces alpha waves in the brain and makes you feel calm and not anxious and from what I heard it helps reduce anxiety and irritability and insomnia that come when you quit marijuana. I am a long time smoker, frequent quitter and unfortunately equally frequent relapser so I know what to expect when I try to quit again by Mother’s day. It seems safe enough but I can’t get much solid info on whether it actually makes a difference for weed withdrawal. Do you know?

Katie Brooks Says...

I am sure that the detoxification that you are experiencing is
very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it is
out of my scope of practice to advise on medication or supplements.

Visit
your primary physician or a psychiatrist if you have questions pertaining to
effectiveness and side effects.

In order to reduce anxiety and agitation:

Make sure you are getting enough sleep. Go to bed at
the same time every evening and wake up at the same time every morning.
Use your bed only for sleep and do not watch TV in bed. In
addition, try not to eat right before bed.

Make sure your house and workspace are clean and
organized. A cluttered space can
sometimes cause a cluttered mind.

Try to reduce the stress in your schedule while you’re
detoxing. Take lots of time for rest and relaxation.

Surround yourself with supportive positive people who do not
trigger negative emotion. You will need support. Sometimes talking
to a good friend or family member can really help.

Try listening to guided visualizations or meditate daily.

EXERCISE! Get that
excess energy out. Get outside and either run or walk vigorously. The fresh air and sunlight will help. Otherwise, yoga can be great for reducing
anxiety.

Focus on where the
anxiety is in your body. If it is in your chest, focus on the anxiety in
your chest until the anxiety dissipates or changes. Whenever your attention
wanders, bring it back to the place in your body where the physical feeling is.
Doing this for five or ten minutes can reduce, if not eliminate, the anxiety.

Help someone
else in order to distract yourself.
Distract yourself with anything that deters your thoughts from negative
thinking.

Try to think
positively about your anxiety. Reframe negative statements like, "I
can't handle this" to "This will pass or "I am handling this and
can get through this".

Do the
opposite of what your body wants to do. If you want to hide, go out and
be social. If you want to anxiously eat, go out and exercise.
Sometimes doing the opposite of what are emotions are driving us to do
can change the emotion completely.

Make sure your
environment is positive. Try to avoid scary movies with a lot of negative
imagery. If the news is upsetting; don't watch it.

Progressively relax your body from your feet
to your head. Take a deep breath in and
as your exhale shift your focus to each body part. Let the stress melt from your muscles. Look up progressive relaxation for full
instructions.

Practice mindful breathing. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale count
the exhalations. Continue this exercise
for 10-20 minutes. If you attention
wanders gently bring it back to counting exhalations.

If you notice that your breathing feels
shallow and constricted try to elongate your inhalations and exhalations. Breathing into your belly rather than your
chest can reduce the anxious feelings.

If these methods do not
work psychotherapy is very effective for the reduction of anxiety.